Primary Sources

Think back to elementary school... recess... playing "telephone". I used to think that game was the greatest. The ridiculous things that we would end up with after sending a message through a line of friends were always funny and always different from what we started with. I think that there is a plethora of information on the Internet that is taken from somewhere else, that took it from somewhere else, that took it... you get the idea. As educators, we must help our students realize which information is at from the end of the telephone line and where to find the information that started it all. Primary sources are the beginnings of the telephone lines of information. It is more beneficial and accurate to consider the source, so to speak. Students should talk about the documents that framed our country, but wouldn't be much more meaningful to actually analyze the actual documents? The resources available at the National Archives website (www.archives.gov) are really amazing. There are many interesting things to discover, although the site can be a little tricky to navigate. i was able to look up military records from some of my relative during WWII. I could easily burn a few hours exploring the information available. I believe that technology is a tool to enhance learning and the ability for a learner to access primary sources online is an amazing tool that adds credibility and validity to the their discover and analysis of information.